Halloween Mermaid Nails in 4 Easy Steps

So my mermaid obsession is still in full swing, so much so that I have  decided to be a mermaid for Halloween because ..well why not!

I had previously created a similar nail design and decided to step it up a bit with more colour and glitter!

I used stencils from a company called Nail Mail rather than try and paint on the scales myself (so much harder than I imagined) 

To create the design I used a mix of Barry M nail paints because I love the quality and finish of the nail paints, I haven't had a bad experience in the years I have been using them! I chose the metallic gold (for the base coat) the mermaid themed range in a blue shimmer shade and blue and gold glitter nail paints. 

Step 1 - I painted my nails with one coat of the metallic gold, then painted a clear coat over the top then left to dry for 15 minutes - this step is essential to stop the stencil pulling off the base coat later on.

Step 2 - I then applied the stencil to all nails on both hands (it helps if you have quite narrow nails to cut the stencil in half that way you have less waste meaning you have stencil left over for next time!) and applied each one using tweezers to position it exactly where I wanted it. Make sure the stencil is completely stuck down to the surface of your nail to avoid paint getting underneath the stencil and ruining the design. 

Step 3 - I used the shimmery blue shade to create the blue scales looks then I used a small sponge and tweezers to dab on each colour glitter to give a slight gold to blue ombré effect rather than just using one solid colour.

I found it is better to paint one nail at a time then peel the stencil off straight away while the paint it is still wet to avoid the paint drying and the stencil pulling off some of the paint potentially ruining the effect or getting the stencil stuck into dry the paint so you can't remove it at all. 

Step 4 - Finish with a nice shiny clear top coat and voila ..perfect mermaid nails! 

You can use literally any combination of colours to create this effect, the possibilities really are endless!

Stencils - £3.95 from Nail Mail

Nail paints - all from Barry M and range between £2.99-£3.99